


Psychopathy

by Evil_Panda_Roar



Series: The New Kids [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Bill Don't Go Overboard, BillDoesn'tShareHisPineTree, Dipper Pines is a Mess, Fluff and Smut, Horror, M/M, Mabel and Will are a crime solving duo, Possible violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:39:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Panda_Roar/pseuds/Evil_Panda_Roar
Summary: After years of no contact with Bill the strange person, being, appears and declares Dipper as his and only his.





	1. Life in the Present

Six years after Gravity Falls

(Dipper’s POV) 

“Could you try not shouting?” I said loudly over Mabel on the phone. She was excited about something. 

“You need to get over here. Now!” She then hung up on me. 

“Of course, it’s not like I have something better to do.” I complained to myself. Then found myself laughing because for once I didn’t. Maybe searching for a job in my selected field, but it isn’t often that an opening can be found. The chances of a place opening up within an hour is low.

I walked the five minute walk to Mabel’s pet place, I have no idea what to call it. It takes in rescue animals, but isn’t a shelter; it sells pets, but pets from a shelter; it does boarding, but then also sells pets; also, grooming. It’s a pet place. I walked in the front door to find a few people cooing over dogs and cats. When Mabel saw me she grabbed me and pulled me into the back. 

“Okay, so I know you don’t want a pet exactly. But I can supply you with everything this little guy needs, and he just seems so perfect for you.” 

“Mabel.” 

“Don’t say no until you’ve seen the cutie.” She glared at me for a moment. I shrugged. This wasn’t the first time she had done this to me. Claiming that getting along with another animal might help me get along with the human species; I doubted it. Mabel turned around and motioned for me to get closer. She stood in front of one of the cages, whispering to the animal inside. “Don’t worry cutie. There’s nothing to worry about. My bro just is stopping by to say hi.” She spoke as though the animal had any idea what she was saying. 

When I finally got a look inside the cage I felt a pang of guilt. The little furball, a cat, was curling itself up trying to hide from us. For the most part the cat was a beautiful gray color, there were a few black spots. One on it’s ear, and its back. It stared fearfully at us. That’s when I realized it is missing an eye. 

“This cutie was surrendered about a month ago, he’s skittish from being abused by his previous owner. The shelter that brought him in suggested a quiet house with little interaction until he gets used to it. Which brought you to mind. You are always working when you are home so it’s rarely loud, and you wouldn’t try and force this cutie to let you pet him. On top of that your roommate is almost never around. And this place, it’s too much for him.” Mabel stated her point, it could have gone on but she wanted to keep it short and sweet. Otherwise I would have just zoned out on her by no fault of my own. 

“Is that his tail?!” The small stump that constituted as the little guy’s tail was shaking. It was strangely cute. “It’s like a little nub.” 

“Oh yeah, this guy is a short tailed manx. Thankfully his tail is naturally like that. I already want to hunt down his previous owner and teach them a lesson on how to properly care for an animal.” 

“Hey Mabel, some people are interested in the collie. I think you should give them the run down quickly.” Will poked his head through the doorway. He smiled at me for a moment before walking back out to talk to another customer. 

“Duty calls. I’ll leave you two alone for a little bit. You really should consider getting a pet. You’re getting too cooped up.” With that she rushed to gush over some puppy and inform the possible owners of all the special responsibility it will take to care for the dog. 

Will didn’t take long to contact Mabel after we left Gravity Falls. It was an interesting story. This family got the idea that Will was a child they had taken care of before, being a foster family, and they missed him so dearly and rushed to find him. However, whenever he brought up Bill they would always tell him he doesn’t have a brother. Now for all of us Bill just feels like some weird nightmare; though I could never forget how the sky looked in that corn field. Then, of course, the family pet got ran over and Will decided being a vet is what he needs to do in life. 

As I was thinking about the things that brought us all to this point the cat seemed to relax some. The hyperactivity of my sister leaving had probably relaxed the cat. Now that he wasn’t pressed against the corner I could see his full size, and he is a lot smaller than I thought. I had assumed that as he was pressed against the corner a lot of him was hidden, but I had assumed wrong. He looked more like a kitten than a full grown cat. The cat walked the short distance to the edge of the cage and started rubbing up against it. I pondered his actions for a short time before realizing I probably smelled like catnip. Spending most of the day at the library desk, where a co-worker had convinced everyone to let her bring in a couple plants, all being catnip. Realizing there couldn’t be much harm in it I set the back of my hand against the cage and felt the cat rub against it. The fur so soft I wasn’t sure I was feeling anything. Then the cat stopped and bit my hand.

“What was that for?” I questioned as I brought my hand back; seeing a small trickle of blood roll down my finger tip. As if on cue Mabel walked back in. The cat backed up into it’s safe place and Mabel rolled her eyes. 

“I can’t leave you two alone for five minutes?” She teased. 

“I guess not, maybe this cat doesn’t like me.” I commented as I went to grab something to clean up the blood. Though, I was beginning to consider the opposite. Maybe a cat wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Oh sure. Who couldn’t love a kitten like him? His tail is too precious! That’s why I love manx cats, they are so cute and have a variety of tail sizes. No tail is my favorite however.” 

“How old is he?” 

“Two years, though he’s on the slower growing curve and probably won’t reach full size until five or maybe even six.” 

“Cute.” I quietly mentioned to myself. “However, I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a pet! I can’t even take care of myself.” Mabel laughed at my comment. 

“True, but cats are independent and need less attention than a dog. Cats are kind of like you.” 

“I’m sorry, I don’t see the relation between me and a cat.” 

“Both of you don’t want to admit that you need someone to help you take care of yourself, and are too stubborn to just ask for help. Instead I have to put up with the cats getting pissy at me and won’t even let me help them. Macaroni is impossible to feed when he is hungry!” Mabel began a rant that would probably end with a complaint about every animal in the place, followed by two compliments and an apology, but stopped herself. “If you need help starting out just call me. I’m only a few minutes away.”

~ ~ ~ 

And so, that is the story of how I ended up inviting a demon into my house. The first night was hell. Meowing and meowing. If only I knew the cat had a fear of storms I would have let it sleep at Mabel’s place for the night. Instead, I was stuck with the meowing. Once I tried to comfort the little guy but he just scratched me. So here I lay. In my room. Hoping for the thunder to stop so the cat will stop meowing. 

(Bill’s POV)

“It’s disgusting! I love it!” My newest creation, half fish-half duck. It has the head of a fish and the body of a duck. So weird; it’s wonderful. Then with the snap of my fingers it turned to dust. “This is so boring. I wonder what Pine Tree is doing?” I fell back, trust falling into my own power, floating around inside the cave. It was strange to stay here, but at least no one could see me. 

“What happened to you?” Someone asked Pine Tree. I never cared much about learning the names of the people around him. However, I could tell he was at work in the library again; all of the books kind of gave it away. With that I found that he is covered in scratches. 

“I got a cat.” A cat? Him? Must have been Star’s idea. He couldn’t even keep a cactus alive. 

“Dude, seriously? I love cats! Can I visit sometime and see it?” His co-worker asked. The teenager was a strange sight to see working in a library. He looked more like the type to be a full time band member. All black clothes, spiky hair, annoying. 

“No, he doesn’t really like strangers.” 

“What’s his name?” Pine Tree looked at him blank faced. Not realizing he was actually going to have to name the thing. I searched his mind for a description of the cat. Sighing, I gave him a name to choose. There wasn’t much I could think of for a short name, and if I went with anything longer Pine Tree might start to wonder where he got the idea. 

“Leo.” He answered with the name I gave him. Pine Tree considered the name for a moment before realizing he liked it, Leo, like the constellation. 

Wait one second. While digging around in his recent memories I found something I didn’t like. The fuck is this? Is he flirting with him? And he likes it? The memory was of a sketchy conversation with a guy who wanted my Pine Tree’s help with a research paper. 

“Well that won’t do.” I spoke and stood up.


	2. Family Reuinion

(Dipper’s POV)

As I was walking up the steps to my apartment, I smiled to myself. Today had been a great, no, amazing day. Someone had accidentally knocked over a bookshelf; which normally would have been a pain, but it got me out of sitting at the desk. My least favorite job at the library. On top of that the one who did it was someone I knew. A guy I talked to once before, and he stayed to help me put the books back where they belonged. Afterwards he asked me to go see a movie with him, and I still couldn’t tell if it was a date or not, either way I said yes. 

As I reached my apartment I turned the doorknob.The door to my apartment is unlocked. I paused and shook my head. How many times do I have to tell him to lock the door? My roommate left shortly after I did, and I trusted him to lock it. As he had proved to me many times before that is something I cannot trust him with. 

“Heya Pine Tree.” Only a few steps in someone spoke from inside the apartment. ‘Pine Tree’? Only one person has ever called me that, and I had started to convince myself he never existed. Am I hallucinating? I walked a little farther to see the living room. There was a light blond man sitting on my couch. The facial structure was familiar, and there is no doubt. Bill. He sat on the couch with the skittish cat happily purring on his lap as he pet it.

“How?” 

“Time to go furball.” Bill said as he picked up the cat, bringing it to his face before sticking his tongue out at it. The cat hissed in response and he set it down on the couch next to him. “Long time no see, Pine Tree. What a nice rhyme.” 

“Your eye.” I commented as he strode towards me, both eyes intact. He gave me a forced unhappy smile before speaking again. 

“That was an easy fix. How is your mortal life treating you Pine Tree?” Bill asked as he brought his face close to mine. His hands cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. Excitement, I think fear, filled me. 

“Fine.” He stared at me for a minute. I counted the seconds on a clock I could see out of the corner of my eye hanging on the wall beside him. 

“Well aren’t you popular.” He said and dragged his nails down the sides of my face. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Let’s go say hi to my brother. I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing him yet.” Bill grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my apartment. With a snap of his fingers the door closed behind us, with a click it locked.

“Where have you been? I…” Didn’t think you really existed? 

“Here and there. Everywhere. I mean, this life has a lot of perks. Oh, coffee.” As we passed the coffee shop below my apartment, that I stopped at regularly, a worker ran and handed Bill a cup of coffee. “Thank you.” He took a moment to let go of my hand and held the woman’s to his lips for a quick kiss. She turned beet red and ran back into the shop. “I love messing with human emotions. Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand again and started dragging me while he chugged a cup of steaming coffee. Shouldn’t that burn? 

We strode into Mabel and Will’s pet place, more Bill than I, considering the fact he has been almost dragging me. For a few long moments after the bell chimed, neither Will nor Mabel appeared. 

“Hello!” Mabel happily ran out from the back. She stopped almost as suddenly as she appeared. Her eyes widened as she stared at the man holding my hand. He continued to refuse to let me go, even though I tried to sneak my hand out of his grip. “Hi.” Mabel said again, clearly confused. Will followed her out and almost instantly collapsed to the floor, hyperventilating. He stared at Bill wide eyed and terrified. 

“Long time no see, brother.” Bill said, letting go of my hand to hold his out as though he had just performed a magic trick. 

~ ~ ~

The shock ended soon, and Mabel quickly moved to lock the front door and flip the sign to closed. Will slowly picked himself off the ground. Bill helped him up while laughing. I stood where Bill left me; Mabel moved to stand by my side. 

“Dipper, what is going on?” She asked me. 

“I have no idea. He just showed up in my living room.” 

“How did he know where you lived?” 

“I don’t know.” Once Will was standing again, the identical twins stared at each other. The room was quiet for a few moments until a dog started barking and Bill jumped. He turned to face the wall behind him where the dog was sitting and hissed at it. The dog didn’t bark anymore and found a spot next to Mabel to sit instead. 

“Dogs, don’t know when to shut up.” Bill complained. “So, bro, do you have any questions for me?” He draped an arm over Will’s shoulders. 

“W-what happened?” Will stuttered.

“Great question! Now that the whole gang’s here, it’s the perfect time to explain!” Bill clapped his hands and walked to the center of the room. Sitting on a cat tree where a cat was lazily sleeping. Bill picked it up and the cat proceeded to scratch his face, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. In fact, other than a momentary glimmer there was no marks left. After the shock of being rudely awoken, the cat started to purr as it found a comfortable spot on Bill’s lap to sleep. “It was simple getting your parents to show up. Just one phone call and they were out the door.” Bill looked to Mabel and I. “However, planting memories in a family's head! That was a challenge.” 

“Why didn’t you add yourself to their memories!? I spent years with them telling me you don’t exist.” Will complained, it is the closest I have heard him get to shouting in years. 

“I couldn’t have anyone looking for me, now could I? Not that they would find me. Though, I am a little hurt on how easily you all pushed me aside.” Bill said sarcastically. 

“We just assumed…”

“Assumed correctly, but then you started thinking I’m not real. Yeah, I spent a lot of time hanging out in that cave. However, I did get to travel a lot. Ancient Egypt was a really nice place. Cats were treated like royalty.” As he said that another cat settled on his head. Now that I focused more on the cats in the room and less on Bill, I noticed all of the cats that were lucky enough to be out of their cages were sitting around him. Cat magnet. 

“Why are you here now?” I decided to chime in before his conversation about cats continued. 

“Because, you’re being stupid.”

“How am I being stupid?” 

“If you would let me finish, I would have gotten to that part. You love me, I know it, you know it, latently unfortunately, but you know it.”

“What are you talking about? That’s insane.” Bill shrugged.

“Not really. Why did you pick astronomy over medicine when the medical field had more to offer you? Why do your dreams always end at Gravity Falls?” 

“How do you know those things about me?” 

“I needed to make sure nothing bad happened to you, Star, or Will.” The idea that Bill had been spying on me infuriated and scared me. 

“If you were watching us the entire time why didn’t you try talking to us?” I crossed my arms to keep from balling my fists. 

“I was busy.” Bill said slowly; staring at a cat and avoiding all of our glances. I opened my mouth, ready to go off on him about his stupid assumption that I love him when Will started talking again. 

“It’s great that you’re back, finally.” Will hugged him, avoiding all the cats that surrounded him. Bill sat awkwardly still as his brother hugged him. 

“Shit.” Bill hissed and Will backed away. No one understood what his problem was until his hands reached for his head. Moments before his hands covered them I spotted the cat ears he has sprouted. “Shoo, back off.” He turned his head to get the cat that was sitting on top of it off, and moved his legs slowly out of push the cats on the floor away. The one on his lap brought out its claws and refused to move. Bill hissed at it in an inhuman way and it finally gave up its spot. “I’m allergic to cats.” He spoke once the cats had backed away. 

“Did you grow cat ears?” Mabel questioned. Bill for a moment looked like he had stuffed an entire lemon in his mouth before sighing. By that time his condition had worsened, he grew a tail. 

“I’m cursed.” He spoke, clearly that explanation didn’t work for any of us so he continued. “Okay, when I was in Egypt I showed my love for cats, a lot, but I thought that maybe I could change them a little and make them better. When this witch woman found out about it she cursed me to become a cat. I was able to erase the mark a little bit, but whenever I get too close to too many cats this happens. In short, cursed.” Bill started to rant about how such a low life witch shouldn’t be able to cast such a powerful spell on HIM, but I wasn’t listening. Instead, I couldn’t help but think he looks kinda cute like that, and for whatever reason I decided to sneak up on him while he was too busy ranting to notice and scratch him behind the ear. Mabel was silently cheering me on. Will almost gave it away when he started laughing, but Bill was so loud by then he couldn’t hear it. 

At first touch I mouthed the words ‘oh my god, so soft’ to Mabel. Seconds afterwards Bill pressed his head into my hand and started quieting down. Shortly, after he stopped talking he made a loud purring noise. This caused Mabel, Will, and I to laugh. At our laughter at his expense Bill jumped to the floor, a light following him, and he hit the ground as a cat. 

“It’s so beautiful!” Mabel cooed at Bill’s cat form. At her cooing he hissed at her. 

“Are you having a hissy fit?” He glared at me with his ears back. 

_Very funny Pine Tree. Now, do any of you have anymore questions?_ I opened my mouth to speak when Bill’s voice cut me off. Yes, I am in your head, now get over it. 

“No.” I answered, more to be annoying than anything else.

“How long are you going to be a cat?” Mabel interrupted. 

_A couple hours; a day at most. I really hate that witch._

“What breed of cat are you supposed to be?” Bill cocked his head at Mabel’s question. 

_I don’t know, does it matter?_ Mabel ignored his question and began to inspect him instead. He sat giving her an uneasy stare. 

“Well, it will be hard to lose you in a litter.” Mabel spoke happily. “You are the most unique cat I have ever seen.” 

_Maybe because I am not supposed to be a cat? This is undignified._ With that, Bill the cat vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk about fluff. Anyways, I created a tumblr for my writing that will have updates and comments about how the next chapter is going. If anyone is interested in that; it is evil-panda-roar-writing. And if not, just worry about the fluff.   
> I love cats a little too much.


	3. Bill Stakes His Claim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for the short chapter, and even more sorry about how long it took me to get it up. Finals were draining me of all creativity and energy. Thank god that's over.

(Dipper’s POV)

“So…” Mabel spoke once Bill was gone. I had no idea what to say, and it seemed like Will and Mabel were the same way. For a moment.

“You love Bill?” Will questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

“No! I don’t!” I defended. 

“Awww, it’s so cute! Still having feelings for your first true love!” Mabel added. Neither of them were going to listen to me. It was another one of their cooing moments, only instead of a cat or dog, it’s over me. 

“You know what that means!” Will added excitedly. 

“Date planning!” Mabel finished. 

“There will be no date. I don’t like Bill, and it’s sketchy that only now he shows his face again.” I broke up their moment. However, Mabel didn’t seem phased, she had made a connection I must be ignoring. 

“You dummy. Of course it makes sense he is showing up now! Bill has competition, and he isn’t going to give you up.”

“Competition? If he wanted it to be a competition he should have reached out to me at least once over all these years. I couldn’t care less about him now.” I got a funny feeling as I said it, but it’s probably just fear. Bill could be listening right now, and I don’t know if I want to make him mad. 

“Don’t say that Dip-dot. Just enjoy the attention while you get it.” Mabel winked at me. 

“Whatever, I’m going back to my apartment and I swear, there better be only one cat there.” With that, I rushed out of the building. I couldn’t stand anymore talk of Bill and I. That was years ago, I’ve gotten over it. Now he thinks he can just show up and I’ll love him again. As if! I hate his guts for leaving us like that. 

How the hell am I going to “Bill proof” my apartment? That question struck me like a bus. Which, ironically I almost did get hit by a bus as I thought it. However, someone grabbed my jacket hood and pulled me back. 

“You should be more careful. I still need my study buddy.” As he pulled me to his side he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. 

“Hey Jason, I have a bubble and you are invading that bubble.” I commented and pulled away from him; taking his arm off my shoulder. 

“Sorry, are we still on for tomorrow night?” Tomorrow is supposed to be another study session, of course, Jason didn’t think of it as such; not anymore at least. Which is why instead of studying we are going to be watching movies together. I did accept a date, one date, but with Bill here I don’t think I can do it. Or maybe, I should. Just to piss him off. 

“Of course.” I gave him a smile, but felt horrible inside. I’m only going on a date with him to piss off Bill now that he is back. 

“You have the cutest smile I have ever seen.” After he said that he gently held my chin for a second. Only a second because something made him jump back. “What the?” He looked down at the spot where he had been standing, I followed his gaze and internally groaned. Bill, in cat form, sat there, hissing at me. I looked to see what happened to find Jason’s pant leg with large tears in it and his leg is bleeding. Once Bill was done hissing he rubbed up against my legs. If it wasn’t for a small crowd that was cooing at how cute he is I would have kicked him away at full force. I doubt that would hurt him, maybe his ego, but that’s it. “Is that your cat?” 

“No.” I answered quickly. Jason looked at me skeptically. “It must think I am someone else.” I shrugged; trying to step out of the circle Bill had put me in, only to get hissed at again. 

“What’s up with that cat? Should we take it to Mabel’s?” 

“No, no, it’s fine. Maybe if we keep walking it will go away.” I shooed Bill and started walking with the crowd across the crosswalk. Jason walked by my side, and Bill, he sat down on the curb and watched me leave. 

I offered for Jason to stop at my apartment to clean up his leg. He happily accepted. We were walking up the stairs when I had a bad feeling about this. I can’t ask him to leave now, but what if Bill is waiting for me there in cat form. Then I would have to tell Jason that Bill is in fact my cat, and he would think I lied. Why must I be so nice? I wasn’t even thinking about that when I asked him. We stood outside the door for a moment. I gave Jason a quick smile. He gave me a quizzical look in response. 

“Sorry if my place is a little dirty.” I decided to cover, and opened the door.

“No worries man. My place is a mess.” The second after I opened the door I heard running water. That can’t be good. Jason followed my lead. “Dude, what were you talking about? This place is spotless.” Unfortunately, it was. Which means something happened. Then, things ended up worse than I thought possible. Bill, in human form, wearing nothing but a towel walked out into the livingroom. His hair is wet, as though he had just taken a shower. 

“What are you doing here?” I questioned. Trying not to sound too upset. 

“What do you mean? You invited me to stay the night.” He said with a wink. It was a full on lie, but Jason started backing away. 

“Looks like I’m intruding on something. Talk to you later?” He didn’t sound too excited about it, and once he finished speaking, Jason rushed out the door. Bill laughed, and when I turned back to face him he was fully clothed. 

“Bill, what do you think you are doing?” He rolled his eyes at me. 

“I already explained this. I’m trying to get you to realize your feelings for me.” Finally, I broke out laughing in frustration. 

“Are you insane?” 

“Yes.” I ignored his interruption. 

“I could never love you! Maybe at one time I did, but that was a long time ago. Before you left me! I waited years for some sign that you were alive! Or that you were even real! But there was nothing. Nothing at all. I was waiting for you to come back. I cried over you! So go fuck yourself! I’m over you, and you’re too fucking late!” In the heat of the moment I threw the closest thing to me, my phone. It went right through him, which only made me more frustrated. “I want nothing to do with you. So leave me the hell alone.” Even though I knew anything I threw at him wouldn’t hit him, he gawked at me as though I had slapped him at full force. I wish I did. “Just leave already.” I complained and went to hide in my room. The moment the door closed I broke out sobbing. What is wrong with him? 

~ ~ ~ 

(Bill’s POV) 

I sat outside Pine Tree’s door and listened to him cry. It shattered me in a way I forgot was possible. I didn’t think it was possible. Emotions, they are such a pain. That’s why I got rid of them. Most of them, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of my Pine Tree. There has to be something I can do. I think I have to pay this Jason a visit.


	4. Bill, You Are Doing Everything Wrong

(Dipper’s POV)

It took me too long to contain myself, but once my breathing steadied I was able to think. Bill’s here, I doubt he is going to be leaving anytime soon. Why must he bother me? Maybe he will leave now that I told him I don’t love him. Maybe he will admit defeat. If only that was like Bill. 

I opened the door to my room. Dread filled me when I found Bill had left. However, I was too exhausted to do anything. He won’t leave, not that easily. I sat down on the couch and the little kitten jumped on my lap. 

“Hey Leo.” I scratched the cat behind the ear and instantly he began to purr. It is a calming sound. Some studies have been able to prove that a cat’s purr can in fact improve a person’s well being. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Coltin. He was wondering if I could cover his shift at the library tonight. Short notice. Why does he always do that? Even though it always bothered me I always accepted. More work equals more money. I can’t complain; working at the library is too easy sometimes. Maybe I can lose Bill this way. It’s unlikely, but I can hope. 

After I assured Coltin I could take his shift I got ready to leave. I only have an hour until I have to be there anyways. Leo watched me walk around the apartment. I gave him a stern look. 

“You better not tell Bill where I am.” I joked. However, it is impossible to know if Bill can communicate with cats or not. He technically is one so it wouldn’t be outrageous. Leo trotted away, his stub of a tail wiggling back and forth. “You’re one weird cat.” I commented while slipping on my jacket. 

~ ~ ~ 

The library, as always, was peacefully quiet. That was, until a group of kids showed up. I couldn’t tell if they were in middle or high school. Not that it mattered. They clearly were going to be a problem. The girls were screaming for whatever stupid reason. Was one of the guys trying to dump water on them? Probably. 

“At least Coltin isn’t with them.” Mary commented. She sat next to me behind the front desk. 

“Hopefully he knows better than to show up at his work place when he took the day off. Hopefully.” 

“He probably does, but when they are with friends people tend to lose their heads.” My phone went off in my pocket. I looked at Mary, she nodded. With her permission I left my post and ducked behind the wall. I answered to hear Jason sounding frantic. 

“Hey Dipper, so um, I don’t think we can do that date. It’s just, I think I need a break from everything for a while. I think I’m getting sick. But maybe later. Next week or something. Or maybe not.” He didn’t wait for my answer to hang up. Things on his end didn’t sound good. While he was speaking I heard at least three crashes. I sighed loudly before putting my phone back into my pocket and walking back out. 

“That didn’t sound like a good call. Who was it?” Mary asked. I knew she wasn’t trying to pry, but I didn’t want to talk about the call. 

“How do you get someone to understand that you don’t love them?” Mary has many more years of experience than I do, so maybe she could give me some good advice. 

“Have you given him a chance yet?” She probably assumed I was talking about Jason. However, it didn’t matter if she knew who I was talking about or not. 

“Yes, and he ditched out on me without an explanation.” Keep it as vague as possible. 

“Did you ever get one?” I scoffed, sure I got something, but it wasn’t nearly what I needed. I need to know everything he was doing while he was out of contact. Why was he too busy to talk to me? Why couldn’t he sent me a message, a letter, an email, something? 

“I guess.” Bill’s explanation was more vague than what I am telling Mary right now. 

“Maybe you should try and get one. Once you get his side of the story out of the way say what you feel, and I’m sure things will work themselves out. Whatever that will be. Just don’t try and force it, Mason. We both know you like things to go as planned, but plans make things boring. Let some excitement into your life.” Mary teased me. I couldn’t take what she said to heart. Just ‘going with the flow’ is not something I do. I never have and never will. Well, maybe sometimes I have, but I planned to do that from the beginning so it was kind of a plan anyways. 

“Heya Pine Tree.” Arms wrapped around my waist, and I was caught by surprise. Mary raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Now is not the time to let rules slip Mary. 

“Bill, get away from me.” I said it evenly. Bill did let go of me, but instead took a seat on the front desk facing me. “What are you doing here? I thought I made myself clear.” 

“Don’t be like that!” He whined. I glared at him. “Fine.” He whined even more. “I guess the blunt way isn’t going to work. Why can’t you accept my feelings?” As he spoke he laid back on the desk. “Oh, hello.” He slid off the counter. Landing head first on the floor. Both hands reached to cover my face. What is he doing now? He ran to a bookshelf and scanned a book. He grabbed the next one and continued the process until he had dumped half of the shelf on the floor. Once he was done with the books he snapped his fingers and all of them found their places back on the shelf. 

“What was that?!” I complained as he walked back. Mary was staring at him with wide eyes. 

“What are you?” Bill ignored my question and decided to answer Mary’s instead. 

“I’ve been called many things, but I prefer God.” He winked at her and I wanted to strangle him. 

“Bill, if anything you’re the demon.” I answered. He turned to me with a wide-eyed stare. He looked shattered. It looked like he was shaking until I realized it was the building. He covered the eye that used to not be there. 

“I’m sorry you feel that way Pine Tree.” Bill spoke, trying to piece himself back together. 

“I didn’t really mean that.” I added guiltily. I didn’t mean to hurt him that deeply. 

“I’m sure we both know you believe it.” He continued to cover his eye. When he dropped his hand his cocky smile came back, and any insecurity it seemed he might have had was gone. “I didn’t want it to come to this, but I don’t think there is much of a choice now.” He approached me through the desk. I tried to jump out of my chair, but he lunged at me and pushed me back. The moment his hands connected with my shoulders the entire world went black. As Bill let go of me the darkness continued. He stepped back, and once he was far enough away that I couldn’t see him the world filled with light again. “Ta-da.” He said with a grin, one that held no humor, instead, I felt threatened by him. I thoroughly pissed him off. Bill stood in front of the hieroglyphs. We are in the cave. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh or cry. “You can go anywhere you want in here, only problem is if you try to leave you will be disappointed beyond belief. No one will see you, no one will hear you, you’re a ghost. Enjoy yourself.” With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Where he had been standing a small pocket statue of a fox sat. 

“Bill? W-Why am I here? I have classes to worry about, you know!” There was no answer. I turned my attention to the dome. The spot that had been open the last time I was here was now sealed. On top of that the place seemed to have been redecorated. The rock walls looked like marble, and the room was filled with small candles that floated every which way. The drawings that had been fading now stood out brightly on the walls. 

I guess this is the end of me, isn’t it? Brought here to die by the guy I once dared to think I might love. Not that this is the worse place to die. The ground had even had updating. Now it looked like tile. If I hadn’t visited this place so many times, and basically had the image of it burnt into my brain I would have thought this is a part of a house. 

“Hey Bill? Can we talk about this?” As expected, no response. With nothing else to do I decided to pick up the statue and see if what he said about being a ghost was true.


	5. Ghost of Dipper's Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like the chapter! And thank you so much for all of the comments, they really help me keep working on writing and not giving up! in fact, they give me ideas every once in awhile!

(Dipper’s POV)

I hadn’t gotten more than five feet before the statue I picked up dropped out of my hand. It was so unexpected I jumped back. A strange puff of smoke came from inside of it; I covered my mouth, hoping I hadn’t breathed in any of the gas. As the smoke cleared a new shape sat in place of the statue. A fox. A full grown, living fox.

“What are you supposed to be?” I asked the fox. Thankfully, it didn’t respond. I don’t know what I would have done if it had. 

“This little guy is going to make sure you don’t get yourself into trouble for me. I’m too busy to watch you all of the time, you know.” Bill’s voice echoed in the cave. Not that it really looks like one anymore. The tunnels that used to be oddly shaped, were now formed with walls and arched ceilings. Even better is the flat floor. No slipping here. 

“What do you mean trouble?” 

“You’ll find out. I’m sure you will.” That sounds ominous. The fox yipped and started running back and forth. Clearly trying to get me to follow. Now that I think about it, wouldn’t it make more sense for Bill to pick a cat as my ‘guardian’? He loves those. I never once heard him mention foxes before. While I was thinking about it, I started following the fox. Might as well after all. 

As we walked down the decorated hallway, I started to feel lost. The room was the only thing familiar about this place so far. The walls; which were once tunnels, had rooms connecting to them. Most doors sat firmly locked. I tried opening one of them with some skills I picked up. Mainly from sneaking into classrooms in the middle of the night because I forgot to pick up something. However, the fox nipped me as a warning; I didn’t pay attention to it and got shocked. Not like a little shock from rubbing your socks on the carpet and then touching someone, it was more intense and lasted longer than that. I found myself sitting on the floor, dazed. Never doing that again. 

Once the hallway ended, and the funhouse effect of a seemingly endless hallway stopped; we entered a grand foyer. As with the rest of the place, the floor is tiled with white marble. It helped that the fox is red, the color made it stand out. Now that I think about it, other than a gold trim, this entire place is white. Bland, blank, empty. This really could be a posh prison. For who though? Me, or Bill? 

(Mabel’s POV) 

“Dippy-dot! Answer my calls, would you? You have to come see this puppy. It’s so cute! Hurry your butt up.” I pursed my lips and crossed my arms after shoving my phone back into my pocket. “What is going on with him? Tenth time I’ve called. Normally he answers by now just to get me to stop.” 

“Maybe he’s extra busy. With Bill and all.” Will shrugged, though I could tell his muscles are tense. He doesn’t like this anymore than I do. 

“That’s too bad.” I cooed at the puppy. Petit papillon. Little butterfly. “Guess he’s not going to be able to see your cuteness.” The small dog had been with us for only a couple of hours and she already had a home waiting for her. “Do you want to check on him? Once her caretakers pick her up we can go.” 

“Good idea.” 

~ ~ ~ 

“How dare they show up so late!?! Two hours, two hours of our lives were taken away because they couldn’t show up on time.” 

“Mabel, calm down, please.” Will timidly suggested. I huffed and stopped my complaining. 

“Alright, but seriously, I’ve been freaking out about Dipper the entire time! He hasn’t called me back. It’s completely unlike him.” 

“Maybe he had to study for something? You know him, even though he is only taking some extra astronomy classes for the fun of it, he can get really invested in that kind of thing.” 

“Even then he would call me back, or text me.” Our twin senses! I wanted to add, but with Bill appearing out of nowhere, and Will being reluctant to talk about it, I thought it best not to mention it at the moment. We are only a block away from his apartment. I feel like running. Just that little distance until I can yell at my brother for being stupid. 

We stood outside his apartment door for five minutes, taking turns pounding on the door until a neighbor had to step outside and ask us to stop. I promptly asked if they knew where Dipper might be. They informed us that he left hours ago, and that they have no idea where he could have went. 

“Where should we look?” I asked Will. 

“Library?” 

“Probably the safest bet.” So I took off towards the library. Will had a hard time keeping up. I just couldn’t help but get more worried as time went by. That gut feeling I hadn’t really noticed before kept getting worse. Something has to be wrong, my twin instincts are never wrong. 

“Come on Will! I know you can run faster than that.” I took a moment to wait for my friend. He was carefully jogging. If I didn’t know him as well as I do I would have gotten angry, but I know he is just staying calm so I’ll be calm. Not that it’s working, but at least he’s trying to help in his own way. “Come on, all we have to do is turn this corner and walk a couple feet.” I prodded again. He didn’t move any faster, but at least he is close enough now it won’t bother me to keep moving without him. 

The first thing I noticed when I turned the corner was the flashing lights. Blue and Red. Two police cars are parked outside of the library, and an ambulance is in the parking lot. Everything else went out of focus. I ran faster, scanning the crowd of people for my brother. He isn’t among them, but I found his coworker in the back of the ambulance. I snuck my way towards her, avoiding the police trying to keep the crowd back. 

“What happened?” I whispered to her when I reached the ambulance. 

“Mabel! I’m so happy you are here. The scariest thing happened. I can’t tell you now, but the paramedics are going to be letting me go soon. We’ll talk then. Wait for me at the diner?” 

“Don’t be long.” I said before slipping away before I could be seen. Will had been waiting for me in the crowd. I didn’t walk to him. My mind is solely focused on getting to the diner. What is it that Mary has to tell me? 

“Mabel, what’s going on?” Will ran to my side. 

“I’m not sure. I talked to Mary, she’ll meet us at the Lazy Bear.” 

“I think this is the first time I have heard you say that name with a frown.” Will teased. 

“Of course I’m frowning, Dipper wasn’t there.” 

“Don’t get yourself too worked up. Okay?” 

“What if something bad is happening to him? Why wasn’t he at his apartment?” Will wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Mabel, calm down. Let’s hear what Mary has to say first.” 

“Stop being the mature one.” I playfully elbowed him in the stomach. 

We took a seat at one of the tables outside of the diner. The place is closed, so we didn’t have to worry about a waiter or waitress asking us to buy something. Mary was already making her way to our table. She kept looking over her shoulder as though she’s scared someone is following her. 

“Hi Will. How’s your place doing?” 

“Mary, where’s Dipper?” I tried my best not to sound too hopeful. I don’t want to make her feel guilty. It’s not likely she has anything good to say. 

“The library got crazy tonight, as I’m sure you could tell.” She pulled out a chair. “As for your brother. He took over for another employee tonight. Everything was normal until this guy showed up. He was flirting with him endlessly, but Mason didn’t seem interested. They seemed to get into a fight. The one who was flirting with Mason did things that didn’t make sense. The next thing I know the lights are out, loud crashing was coming from every direction, and when the lights came back on, Mason wasn’t there anymore.”

“Bill!” I jumped up and slammed my hands on the table. 

“You called?” Bill appeared in the empty chair at our table; his feet resting on the table. “Bad time?” He asked as all eyes turned to him. 

“What did you do to Dipper?” 

“Oh, that. Later.” 

“No you don’t!” I reached for him, but by the time I made it to his seat he was gone. He left a small cloud of smoke behind. “What did you do? Where is Dipper? Bill, give me my brother back. I know you can hear me.” 

~ ~ ~

(Dipper’s POV) 

“Well, there’s the Mystery Shack. Not too much farther till I get to Gravity Falls.” I have been following the fox the entire time, and it was a surprise for me to see that it actually took me outside. It seems to be enjoying the walk. Every once in awhile it would jump to catch a butterfly or chase after a squirrel. I would have stopped at the Mystery Shack if it wasn’t for the fact that it is a run down empty building now. Since Soos’s accident he couldn’t keep up with the demand of the job. 

“So, Pine Tree, I see you’ve decided to take a trip outside anyways. Too bad. I was thinking about inviting Star over. Oh well. Less I have to worry about.” Bill’s voice echoed in my head. 

“Mabel?” In my situation I had completely forgotten about my sister. Is she worried about me? Does she even realize I’m gone? “Bill, why are you doing this? It’s absurd! Kidnapping me? How will this make me love you?” 

“Have you heard of stockholm syndrome? It seems like the best bet now. Considering you hate me and all.” 

“That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard!”

“Or mere-exposure effect? We’ll be spending a lot of time together now.” 

“Bill! I don’t hate you! I’m just… Mad. You left, and didn’t try and talk to me. I loved you. And this isn’t helping! In fact, it’s only making you seem worse in my eyes.” I felt like hitting something. The nearest thing to me was a small stone on the side of the road. I kicked at it, but when I expected to feel resistance, there was none. This caused my leg to kick out farther than I intended and I ended up stumbling. At the last second, I saved myself from falling. “What was that?” 

“What did I tell you? You’re as good as a ghost. Do you ever listen to me?” Bill’s voice came again. Until now I was hoping that it was only a hollow threat. Now I know he really meant it. “Now that you realize how dumb of an idea it was that you could just walk out the front door, why don’t you come back? I could give you a tour!”


	6. Bill's Grand Tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update! I'm currently working two jobs and applying to colleges so life is a little hectic. I hope you like this new chapter! I'm going to try and get more time to write again. I really miss writing.

(Dipper’s POV)

I sulked my way back to Bill’s house. I decided to call it that from now on, as it fits more than ‘Bill’s cave’. Though, it still looks like one from the outside, as I noticed. The fox happily trotted a few feet ahead of me. Chasing after bugs as they flew past. 

“I’m bored.” Bill’s voice commented as the world shifted. “You walk so slow! I actually forgot how slow you humans are.” He appeared before me as the main hall of his house became clear to me. “Well, let’s get this tour started, shall we?” He smiled as though everything was fine. As though I am not his prisoner, but his guest. 

“Bill-” I wanted to beg him to let me go home. However, I could never make myself look so pathetic in front of him. I can’t do it. 

“Yes?” He looked at me eagerly, like a dog spotting a tennis ball.

“What are you?” He broke out in laughter at my question. He sounded half mad when he laughed. Which is an improvement considering I think he is completely mad. 

“Pine Tree. That’s like me asking what you are. Some will answer beings created for a greater purpose, others souls trapped inside flesh prisons. As for you. I’m sure you’d keep it more scientific. But, I kinda get what you mean. I’m not human, that’s clear, so then, what does that make me. Now, I’ll just say what I always say. I am God.” He smiled without humor. I shivered and broke out in goosebumps as I realized he’s not joking this time. “Well let’s get this tour started.” 

~ ~ ~

Bill rushed me through room after room. My head was spinning before we were even half way through the place. So far the only place I remember is the library because from the quick look at I got of it it contained some books that as far as I knew all original copies had been destroyed, but they didn’t look like those cheap ripoff versions, and were in the original language. We made it to the kitchen when someone or something asked for Bill. They had strangely blue skin and a choker with a lock on it. 

“What is it?” Bill’s voice changed from overly cheerful, to utterly bored. 

“There’s an emergency meeting. You must attend.” The being squeaked and added. “Not that I’m telling you what to do, but it’s a dire issue. I hope I stressed that enough.” 

“An emergency meeting? I’ve been gone for two days, and I even returned for check ins. I swear, it’s impossible to find good help.” Bill continued to mutter to himself as he started leaving. “Oh, and Key, show Dipper around for me.” Bill turned to face me quick. “Dipper, this is Key. Key, this is Dipper.” He whispered something to Key that made the being turn a sickly turquoise color. Once Bill finished whispering to Key he disappeared. 

“So tense that guy.” Key seemed to gain confidence with Bill’s leaving. “Though, I guess he has to be.” Key shrugged. “Do you want to see my favorite part of this place first? Let’s go.” They didn’t even wait for my response before dragging me off. “Now, I’m not sure if you’ve been here already or not, but gosh I love this place. If you aren’t to interested in getting the whole boring tour we could play video games.” Key lit up, not literally, thankfully, with the idea of video games. 

“I’m not much of a video game player. I prefer reading.” 

“What interests you? I’m sure I could find a game that you will enjoy. Are you more of a puzzle person? You look like one.” I had forgotten about the fox being at my side until Key started petting them. “Such a cute one. Bill started favoring Foxes once he couldn’t be around cats anymore.”

“Why’s that?” 

“They’re like dogs, yes, but they are also mischievous. Also as Bill put it ‘their barks aren’t as annoying’.”

~ ~ ~

So, in the end, Key got me hooked. I fell in love with the game they gave me instantly, and I never would have thought that a game like this could interest me. The game did have parts with puzzles and riddles, but I could tell the selling point for it was the fighting. Which, I normally don’t like, however, I got over that as it really is addicting. In fact, I’ve been playing it so long I forgot the name of it. 

“Hey, Dipper, so you and Bill…”

“Are not a thing.” 

“But you were. At one point, right?” 

“Please, I don’t want to talk about that now.” 

“He’s not much different though. Of course you won’t see that the way you are going. Shutting him out instead of solving him like a mystery. There is so much I’m sure he won’t just go out and tell you.” It was obvious that the matter bothered Key a lot. I paused the game to give my full attention to the conversation. 

“Like what?” 

“I can’t say without being given the right question.” 

“Why not?” 

“It’s Bill’s orders. I’m to tell you nothing, but answer your questions.” Key winked at me

“I don’t think that’s what it means.” 

“It can mean whatever you want it to mean. Other than that my lips are sealed.” 

“Okay, then something that’s been bothering me is, why does Bill call himself god?” 

“That’s easy! He is one! At least, on scale of power. It’s insane the things he has accomplished!” Key suddenly stopped speaking.

“And, what has he accomplished?”

“Creating an organized government for an entire dimension for starters. First time that has ever been done!” 

“What?” I either didn’t understand what Key had just said or couldn’t believe it. 

“Yeah, my dimension. He’s basically the ruler of the entire dimension. He’s amazing.” Bill, in charge of anything? That’s a scary thought.

“But, interdimensional travel? How does that work?” Key stared at me blankly for a few moments until he finally understood the question. 

“Oh, Bill’s the only one who can do that. I don’t know how, but this place is more part of my dimension than yours. That’s how I’m here. I guess you could call it a bridge between our dimensions.” 

“But the bridge only goes one way?” I remembered my little walk towards Gravity Falls. 

“It’s more, incomplete? Bill likes it that way.” Key leaned close to me and whispered. “I think he’s scared to be around humans.” 

“He didn’t act that way before.” I commented angrily. He seemed quite chatty. Even locked me up here with him. 

“You’re an exception. You were with him till the end.” 

“The end of what?” Key jumped at my question. 

“Don’t mind me, just muttering my thoughts outloud. Please don’t mention it. I don’t want to get in trouble.” They rushed. “Do you want to see the rest of the place? Might as well show you around since that’s what I am supposed to be doing.” Key dragged me from my spot and pulled me through the place. 

At some point Key had handed me a map. It seems that they still need to use the map themself as we had gotten lost a few times and Key had to take the map back. At the end of the tour we had gone to every room in the house. Most were guest rooms; which happen to almost always be empty. The library really is as amazing as I had hoped. First editions and even drafts of some of the most notable books in history. Though, there was one thing that was bothering me. 

“What about that room?” I pointed from our table in the library. Right across the hall was a doorway that wasn’t mapped or explained. The two grand doors seemed to suggest whatever is on the other side is quite important. 

“Oh that? That’s Bill’s personal space. He built it after a pretty hectic time.”

“Could you tell me about what his life has been like? I mean, what has he been doing for these five years?”

“Five years? Oh! Yes, I have been serving him for about twenty years, but of course Bill doesn’t always follow the flow of time so I’ve got some added time in there.” 

“Twenty years?” 

“That’s only the time I have been with him though.” I closed the book I had been looking at and put it away. Twenty years? If time is so easy to manipulate for him, why couldn’t he have made time for me? What am I thinking? I don’t even want to be around him. I need to be thinking of a way out.


	7. Home Sweet Home, Or Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Getting back to writing. Sorry for the long delay but I have had a rough couple of months. But now I am excited to get back to writing!

(Mabel’s POV)

“Are you sure we should really be doing this?” Will begged. 

“This is Dipper we are talking about!” 

“But going back there? What about the animals?”

“Don’t worry, I convinced Pacifica to help out for a couple of days.”

“Okay, but what if we go there and we can’t find him? We have no idea where Bill could have taken him.” Will’s eyes welled up with tears. 

“Hey, buddy, I know this whole situation is too much for you. I’m not sure if even I’m willing to accept it yet, but we need to get our siblings back.” 

(Dipper’s POV)

I decided that the only way I might be able to find a way out would be to sneak into Bill’s private section of this place. Now the only problem, finding a way in. There seems to only be one way in and out, and I have a watch fox by my side at all times. Not to mention Bill can get into my head whenever he feels like it. It’ll be risky, but I need to take the chance.

“Hurry up.” Key excitedly yelled to me. They were showing me to my room, cell, at the moment. Key gave me a watch that I could use to tell the time considering there was no sunlight in here to give me any idea how long I have been here. This will be hard to get used to. Wait, what am I thinking? I won’t be here that long. I’ll get out tomorrow, right now, I need to come up with a solid plan. “What do you think?” Key opened the door for me and lead me inside. 

“Whoa.” The place was more like an apartment than a room, a high end one at that, a lot better than what I am used to. Different rooms were connected to the large living room. The most astonishing thing was what looked like windows covering the far side. I noticed a screen next to it and decided to push some buttons. ‘Gravity Falls’. A familiar scene appeared in the window. The old and decaying Mystery Shack; Soos is still in a coma. It’s unlikely now that he will ever wake up. The next place I typed was just as familiar. My apartment. My roommate was sitting on the couch with the cat in his lap, cupping the cat’s head with his hands. 

“What is your owner doing? He knows I’m too irresponsible to care for an animal. Heck, I’ve managed to kill four cacti before. He won’t even answer my text messages! How dare he take advantage of me like this!” 

The last place I wanted to check was Jason’s apartment. Nothing appeared for a while, I was beginning to think it was broken when I realized Bill most likely blocked me from seeing him. All I wanted to do was make sure Bill didn’t mess him up that bad. It frustrated me further. I’m beyond upset, I’m exhausted. 

“Dipper? Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I changed the screen to a view of Mount Everest. The snow covered mountain has a blizzard surrounding its summit, just like my thoughts. I sat on the bed repeating the same question in different ways, why? Why now? Why me? Why did he leave in the first place? He knew I would always be there for him. 

(Mabel’s POV)

Will and I hopped on the bus. We had minimal suitcases because we didn’t plan to be gone long. A day or two at most. If we didn’t find Dipper then I’d just keep yelling at Bill until he answered me. I tried to get his attention all night, but he never showed up. Will had to calm me down before I woke up the neighbors with my yelling. What is that stupid boy thinking? I would have helped him get Dipper back if he hadn’t pulled a stunt like this. 

“Are you okay?” Will asked as he squeezed my hand. We had a way to telling how the other was feeling. It was sometimes a pain. I need to seem determined and sure of myself so he won’t be so scared. He told me he saw Bill in his dreams a couple times, but that was over a year ago, and he hadn’t made much sense. We chalked it up to his memories messing with him. Maybe they hadn’t been, maybe Bill had tried to make contact with him before. 

“Do you think we could go over those dreams of yours again? Maybe they will give us some ideas as to what Bill is thinking?” Will’s eyes widened. 

“Do you really think those dreams were him?” 

“It’s a possibility. They might have clues.” 

“I guess you’re right. It’s better than nothing. The first dream was the first time Bill and I ever saw that cave. Except Bill was showing me around the cave like he had lived there for years. I also remember he was twitching every once in awhile. Like a malfunctioning robot.” I nodded as I listened. This wasn’t anything helpful, but maybe the twitching had more meaning. He might have lost his mind in there. 

We kept going through Will’s dreams. I created a list of the most important parts: Everything leads back to the cave, another reason why going to Gravity Falls would be the first idea; Bill seems to have an inflated ego so it might be hard to get him to listen to reason, he would applaud himself on accomplishments all the time, even though most of them didn’t make sense to us as we spoke about them; and finally, he clung to the past like it was the only thing keeping him alive. 

(Dipper’s POV)

~ ~ ~

“Heya Pine Tree.” Bill’s voice was distant; as though his mind was somewhere else. He took a seat at the end of my bed. For what felt like minutes he sat there silently. “Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I shouldn’t disturb your sleep for much longer.” 

“What do you mean?” I finally moved from the spot I had found myself frozen in. As I took a seat next to Bill, the dark splotches stood out more. I moved to touch one and he grabbed my hand. 

“I’m sorry Pine Tree, my selfishness has gotten you trapped in a love story with no happy ending. I hope it was fun while it lasted. Thank you for caring about me, not many people do.” 

“What are you going on about?” I whispered. Bill brought my hand to his lips where he gently kissed it. A spark seemed to radiate from that spot; giving me energy like I had just had four energy drinks and I could run a marathon, and I don’t run. 

“Goodbye.” He said, and for once I felt the certainty of that farewell.

“No.” Time seemed to stop as Bill stared at me. “No, you can’t leave. I’ve already lost my Grunkles, and even Soos, I can’t lose you too.” I reached for his arm, but nothing was there. Bill reappeared in the middle of a black room. 

“Pine Tree, I assure you. That was for the best. Key may make me sound like a hero, but I’m not. If you saw me that night, or for years afterwards, you wouldn’t recognize who I was. Maybe you still don’t recognize me. Maybe that’s why you refuse to love me.” 

~ ~ ~

I woke up covered in tears. That memory brought back an aching feeling in my chest, one I thought I had overcome a long time ago. Then the new part, was that Bill? Talking to me in my sleep. It wasn’t that farfetched of an idea. I pushed the thought away and looked at my watch. 03:00. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I complained. A knock at my door sounded as I was about to get my mind working again. Trying to formulate a plan into Bill’s private section. 

“Hey Dipper, I found your buddy walking around.” Key spoke as they entered the room holding the fox in their arms. We both knew this wasn’t a coincident. Key’s supposed to keep me busy while Bill is gone.


	8. The Wall Between Us

(Mabel’s POV) 

“I forgot how cold it could get here.” It wasn’t much worse from what I’m used to, but the nasty wind had set in; causing me to shiver. 

“What… do you think the Mystery Shack will look like now?” Will asked hesitantly. I stopped walking for a second and thought about how to answer that. With no one being able to take care of it; the most likely case is that it went down in the dumps. Dipper and I thought about going back here, but we could never bring ourselves to do it. Not with the memories of Bill. It would have been too much for Dipper, and I refused to go without him. It’s our place. However, now I have no choice but to go back here.

“I don’t know, but we’ll never find out if we keep standing here!” I cheered and started moving again. I kept a smile on my face until we reached the Shack. Most of the windows were broken in. It seemed as though kids come out here to throw stones at the old Mystery Shack on a regular basis. 

“I’m so sorry Mabel.” Will whispered. He knows how much this place means to me, and to see it in such poor condition. My smile faded for a moment. 

“Hey, we didn’t come back here to reminisce, we need to find Dipper, and this place gets us one step closer.” I walked to the front door, pushing it open. The hinges squealed, then broke, sending the door falling to the ground. 

“Hey there Star. I can’t say I’m surprised to see you here.” Bill spoke as he stared distastefully at the fallen door. 

“Bill! Where’s Dipper?” 

“Oh, he’s fine. I assure you, he’s doing just fine.” Bill waved away her question with a playful smile. 

“What are you doing? I thought you loved him!” She shot back. The air turned ice cold. Bill stopped smiling. 

“I don’t think you get to be the judge of that.” If it wasn’t for the fact that most of the windows were missing the sudden drop in temperature would have been freaky. Not that it isn’t right now.

“Bill, why are you doing this?” Will asked, too scared to look Bill in the eyes. Bill didn’t answer he just stared at Will until their eyes finally met. Will grabbed my arm and started pulling me back. 

“You can keep looking for him, but I assure you, you’ll never find him. He’ll be back when I see he’s ready.” 

“Will, what’s going on? Bill seems even more strange than before.” I risked asking him because it seemed as though they had a twin moment. 

“Bill… He, he’s not going to give Dipper up willingly. We should go and… think things through before doing anything drastic.” 

“What do you mean?” I could take a guess, but I was hoping I was wrong. The Bill I remember had at least some decency. 

“Dipper means too much to Bill for him to just let him go. He’s too attached.” 

“If he cared so much why didn’t he visit?” 

“He probably did. Didn’t Dipper mention some funny dreams he had too? It was only one or two, and I only remember because when you told me it seemed to remind me of the dreams I would have.” 

“I don’t remember that. We probably just assumed…” We both walked in silence; unknowingly heading towards the source of this mess. All the things that ended up being coincidence; Dipper had been the most persuasive on that matter, was most likely Bill reaching out. Maybe, he did try talking to us. We just pushed him away. However, that doesn’t even begin to justify what he is doing. We need to stop him. 

(Dipper’s POV) 

After wandering the halls for an hour; I finally lost Key. I don’t know how long I have until he will pop up again. He’s like an annoying popup add. Always showing up in my face when I least want him to. Right now, I’m darting for Bill’s private section, I doubt Key will think to follow me in there. I’ve reasoned that if there is a way out, it will be in there. The fact that Bill can show up at any moment adds to the stress of this attempt. He seems to be pretty busy, doing whatever it is he does, so I can only hope that will keep him occupied enough to keep him from noticing my disappearance. 

Standing outside of his door I start to feel a little intimidated. The lock is simple, but the doors are so tall I can’t help but feel miniscule. As though it makes everything I do pointless. I pulled out my paper clips that I bent until they matched a lockpicking set. The second I started picking I felt something off about the atmosphere. 

“Is this Bill’s pet?” A voice mocked. 

“Looks like it.” 

“I think he should put him on a leash, but he never listens to me.” I slowly turned around to see a grey floating diamond and… purple hairy toast with appendages? And here I thought Key’s weird. 

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to sound less scared than I am. Did I just not notice them moving through the hallways before? Or have they always been here and I just couldn't tell?

“I’m Kryptos and this is my buddy Zanthar. We’re confidants of Bill.” I raised my eyebrows, is that diamond trying to show off? He sounds like that’s supposed to make him important. Am I supposed to pat them on the back or something? “And I’m gonna make you a deal. We won’t tell Bill what happened here, if you follow us. But be warned, unlike Bill, we won’t hesitate to hurt you.” The diamond that introduced himself as Kryptos floated through the door I had been trying to pick. Zanthar, the purple toast, opened the door for me. I walked inside, confused as to what is going on. Did I just get a free ticket out of here? 

“Now then.” With a snap of Kryptos’ finger a collar of gray light appeared around my neck; with a leash Kryptos happily held before me. “No running off now.” They said and started tugging me away. I would have been mad with the animalistic way they’re treating me if it wasn’t for the fact I’m getting a chance to memorize the floor plan. Simple hallway. More doors on the right than the left. In fact, there are only three doors on the left. 

“Sorry about Kryptos. He gets carried away, and doesn’t like you very much.” I heard a deep and slow voice say to me. I turned to the Zanthar next to me with wide eyes. Was that them? 

“Why doesn’t he like me?” I asked. Hoping Kryptos wouldn’t hear me. Unfortunately, they did. They turned around so fast that if they had a head and neck they would’ve gotten whiplash for sure. 

“WHY?!?! Bill has been keeping you from from fucking your life up for years now!” Kryptos looked ready to rant some more, but composed themself. “We’ll show you.” They turned around and pulled tightly on my leash. Now I looked for something that is connecting the collar and leash, I want to get out of this. Kryptos is far to short-tempered. There’s nothing, considering they are made of gray light, it shouldn’t be a surprise to me. 

“We should probably hurry. Bill won’t approve.” Zanthar pitched in. I don’t think I will ever get used to the eerily low voice they have. 

“Yes, yes, I know. I’m sure Bill has too much to worry about right now. The attempted coup has got him all over the place.” 

“Coup?” I asked, getting nervous. Not that I care about Bill or anything, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I didn’t think his situation could be this bad. 

“While he was busy with you, his advisor tried to overthrow him. It failed of course.”

“Kryptos incinerated her.” Zanthar added. “Ending things quickly, but people are beginning to question Bill’s powers.” 

“So we need YOU to get your shit together,” Kryptos pointed a finger millimeters from my face. “so Bill can get HIS shit together. Then I won’t have to worry about him so much anymore.” It seemed the conversation has ended as Kryptos quickly started moving again. I kept quiet this time as to not cause another pause to get yelled at. It’s still hard to think that Bill is in danger? Is he really? He’s so calm and messing around all of the time. The only time he lost his cool around me was when I said he’s as bad as the demon, and I feel like I went a little too far with that. Though, Bill and responsibility does not sound like a safe mix. 

Kryptos motioned for me to stop in front of the least interesting door in the hallway. Each of them seemed to have some kind of intricate symbol on the doors, except that one. A completely blank white door with a silver handle. Kryptos began to turn the knob, but stopped midway. Kryptos shared a look with Zanthar before quickly opening the door and shoving me inside, before slamming it behind me. 

“What are you doing here?” I hear Bill’s unmistakable voice. He sounded tired, or frustrated.

“We were looking for you. You’ve been scattered recently and we wanted to know if there was anything we could do for you.” Kryptos is good at sucking up, I’ll give them that. 

“Thanks friend, but I don’t think that necessary. I can handle everything.” I could feel Kryptos wanting to but in and tell him that’s not true, but they kept their mouth shut. 

“Are you sure you’re good?” Kryptos contained themself as they asked the question. 

“I… I guess I’m the best I can be in this situation.” It was clear, even to me, that Bill was downplaying his stress.

“What can we do for you?” Kryptos asked again. This time more forcefully. Why do they care so much about Bill anyways? I hear Bill laugh, a laugh that made my heart flutter, very different from any laugh I have heard from him recently. He sounded so warm and happy. Which kinda made me mad for some dumb reason. Why does Kryptos get to make Bill laugh like that? What has he done to earn something like that? 

“Dipper? Hey, Dipper?” A soft echoing voice called out of me. I could have sworn it sounded like Mabel’s voice. Only, she’s not here. She can’t be. Possibilities started playing through my head, Bill holding my sister hostage. Though, I can’t see him going that far. It’s personal, between us. 

“Dipper, are you here?” Another whisper. This time I’m more sure. That’s Will. The echos made it hard to pinpoint where the sound is coming from, but I started walking around the room. Searching for where the voices sound the loudest, as long as they keep calling out to me. Maybe if I say something back they will be able to hear me, but with Bill outside the door, I shouldn’t risk it. I have to stay quiet.

~ ~ ~ 

(Mabel’s POV)

Within seconds of entering the cave, I got this strange tingling feeling. I asked Will if he felt the same. He agreed, and from there we followed that feeling, going deeper and deeper in to the cave. We didn’t care about getting lost at the moment. This feeling only made it more clear that Dipper is here. Somewhere out of sight. 

“Dipper!” 

“Are you okay?” Will asked, he gave up on finding Dipper sooner than I did. He hadn’t really been into finding him since the incident with Bill. Now, he just wants out of the cave. There are probably too many memories coming back to him while we are in here. 

“Dipper, it’s Mabel. Please say something.” If we don’t get anything soon, we’ll have no choice but to head back. 

“Ma… Hea… Me?” A static like sound reverberated around the tunnel, something that sounds like a voice. “Mabel…” Dipper! I jumped to face Will, who was already gawking around the tunnel. “Can’t… tal… lea… me…” The sound is coming from deeper into the cave. I started into a run. 

“Don’t.” Will grabbed my arm. 

(Dipper’s POV)

“Leave me with Bill.” I whispered to the small corner of the room, they may not be able to hear me, but I needed to say something. I don’t know why I felt the need to say that, but it seems right. After hearing Bill laugh… The Bill I know isn’t gone, and I want to see him again.


End file.
